Vatican opposes U.S. one-strike policy, paper says

The Vatican appears set to reject the tough one-strike policy on sexual abuse crafted this summer by U.S. bishops, a move that has been widely expected by church leaders and canon law experts, a major Catholic newspaper has reported.

Rome "will not grant legal approval" to the American rules, which already have led to dozens of priests being removed from their ministries in Chicago and around the country, according to anonymous Vatican sources in the National Catholic Reporter.

Instead, the Vatican will invite U.S. church leaders to discuss ways to change the rules so that they better harmonize with church law, the weekly newspaper said in an article posted on its Internet site. A formal notice of the decision is likely to be issued in early October.

"We're certain that Rome is not going to accept it," Thomas Roberts, editor of National Catholic Reporter, said Saturday. "As always when reporting on the Vatican, it's rare to get people to speak on the record on such sensitive issues."

The Vatican could not be reached for comment Saturday. The archdiocese of Chicago has not heard of any decision, only speculation, said spokesman Jim Dwyer.

"These rumors have been going around for months, and they're just rumors," Dwyer said. "Our policy has already changed to conform with the charter. And until we hear something definitive, that's where we stand."

Many church lawyers and Roman Catholic academics have criticized the bishops' "zero-tolerance" policy, saying it is too tough on the priests, fails to protect their right to due process and ignores the statute of limitations on sexual abuse enshrined in canon law.

According to the policy, devised in Dallas in June by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, all dioceses must immediately remove from ministry any priest facing credible accusations of sexual abuse.

The uncompromising response came after months of escalating scandal in the church.

Advocates for clergy sexual abuse victims said they, too, were not surprised by the news but hoped the U.S. bishops would continue to fight for the tougher measures.

"It's clearly a setback," said Barbara Blaine, head of the Chicago branch of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, adding that she thought the U.S. rules were not tough enough. "It tells us Rome is not in touch with the American experience. Maybe in Italy, a priest is held above the law, but not in the U.S.

"How the bishops deal with it now has yet to be seen. I'm just hoping and praying they don't give in and backtrack from their charter."

Rev. James K. Voiss, assistant professor of theological studies at St. Louis University, said it made sense that the Vatican would not accept the Dallas document outright.

He said the policy has flaws, especially in that it focuses exclusively on priests "with no attention to the accountability of bishops, either for abuse they may have committed, or for failing to respond adequately to abuse carried out by priests under their supervision," he said.

"The fact that Rome wants to modify provisions to bring them into accord with canon law says it's not a rejection but a concern to work with American bishops to address a serious problem," Voiss said.